Season’s Greetings

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

I originally began writing this post as a sort of greeting card to my readers (insert the sound of crickets chirping here).

But after writing the usual Hallmark-style intro, and reminiscing about the year that was, I realized that I wasn’t really buying my kitschy holiday message! So I deleted it and thought that the following would be more appropriate.

We’ve just had our first snowfall and the holidays seem to be around the corner; I suspect that people are more excited about some time off than they are about celebrating the marketing-spectacle that some call Christmas. Montrealers seem to be the same as usual; drivers are annoyed, impatient and often oblivious to pedestrians, pedestrians are rude, aggressive and self-absorbed, and cyclists are…well, they’re still riding their bikes at -17 C and 28 cm of snow on the ground! So, all in all, it’s business as usual. Which got me thinking…why do we make such a big deal about “the holidays”?

The word “holiday” comes from “Holy day”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “holiday” as: a day set aside for special religious observance; a day on which one is exempt from work - specifically: a day marked by a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event. But as we all know, very few people consider themselves to be that religious, yet no one passes up a chance to take a long week-end in the name of religion. So, what is expected during these holy days?

Well, if you truly are religious, you probably believe in remembering, honouring and celebrating an important event in your religion’s history, usually through a series of traditional acts and rituals (including prayer, meals, etc.). You probably attend religious celebrations (because you want to); and I suspect that you truly appreciate the meaning of “the joy of the season”. I am quite sure my parents fall into this category.

If you’re not overly religious (but feel you need to be, especially around the holidays), you probably do a bunch of selfless things in the name of religion – you volunteer, donate to charity, give a bunch of gifts to people you haven’t seen in…well, nearly a year. You are concerned about doing the right thing and somehow feel obliged to do everything, see everyone, and cram a whole year’s worth of “love” into 5 days (or 12 days if you believe the Christmas carol). The result; stress, aggravation, and a general disdain for the holiday season! Much to my mother’s chagrin, I’m pretty sure that I’m in this group.

If you are not that religious and do not feel that you need to prove to others that you are a wonderful person, you probably just take the holidays as time off that should be spent relaxing and being merry (aka, eating and drinking a bit too much). You don’t worry about who to invite or who will invite you; you are not at all preoccupied with “that perfect, special meal” that you are going to have to create from scratch for the 19 people coming over next week; you treat yourself and your family to nice gifts (because everything is on special, and who doesn’t like a bargain!) and you simply take advantage of this time off to do the things you did not have time to do since your summer holidays. My friend Stan (ok, his name isn’t actually Stan…but that’s not the point), falls into this category. During the winter (Christmas) holiday, he gives his employees a few extra days off; he usually takes a trip somewhere warm, he doesn’t invite anyone over, and he buys his family a new “toy” that they can all enjoy (this year it’s a Wii and a plasma TV). I think I envy Stan; he is tanned and smiling every January; he seems happy to be back at work after the holidays (you’ll never hear him say, “I think I need a holiday to recover from my holiday!”); and regardless of his religious views, he is a pretty decent guy to everyone he meets.

So whether you are like my parents, like me, or like Stan, I wish you a very safe and happy holiday season…regardless of how you decide to spend it!

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Lessons learned

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

Well, it has been a while since my last blog post. I have had more than 3 weeks to think about the election, the outcome and what I could have done differently. And before I begin, rest assured…this is not going to be a “sour grapes” rant about why I didn’t win and why I should have.

I have come to realize that election results can rarely (if ever) be explained by logic or be based on tangible facts. Rather, they reflect the mood, sentiment, emotions and feelings of the electors. At first, we may think that one outcome is inevitable or nearly guaranteed, only to find the exact opposite has occurred.

Mr. Tremblay was (and still is) up to his eyeballs in scandals, questionable hiring and firing practices, proof of lousy governance and judgment, terrible publicity (locally, nationally, and internationally) and a general sense that he was failing as our City’s Mayor. So why was he elected to a third term (albeit by a slim margin)? I believe that he won because enough people were not prepared to have a sovereignist like Mme Harel as Mayor and too frightened to elect Mr. Bergeron. I am not sure why they were frightened by Mr. Bergeron, but as an interesting side note: Projet Montréal announced its first decision today; no snow removal on week-ends in the Plateau and Ahuntsic-Cartierville…hmmm, let’s see how that works out….but I digress.

Therefore, I don’t think that Mr. Tremblay won; I propose that the others lost. He only garnered 159 020 votes to Harel’s 137 301 and Bergeron’s 106 768; or as I like to put it, Tremblay had the support of 14.45% of eligible voters, compared to 12.48% and 9.70% for Harel and Bergeron respectively – not exactly awe inspiring!

Another interesting fact is that although Mme Harel beat Mr. Tremblay by over 800 votes in Ville-Marie, he is still this Borough’s Mayor. How can that be, you ask? Well…the provisions contained in Bill 22 give the Mayor of Montreal total control of Ville-Marie. In other words, the Mayor does not need a single one of his/her candidates to be elected in any of the 3 districts for him/her to maintain control of this Borough! The Mayor named Jocelyn-Ann Campbell, City Councillor from the Saint-Sulpice district in Ahuntsic Cartierville, and Richard Deschamps, City Councillor from the Sault-Saint-Louis district in Lasalle and Member of the Executive Committee, to sit on Ville-Marie Borough Council and to ensure his will.

The Mayor now has a fabricated majority and doesn’t really need any of the 3 democratically-elected officials’ support for any of his motions to be passed. So where does that leave his only democratically- elected ally, Mr. Sammy Focillo (you know, the one who beat me in Peter-McGill :)? Does the Mayor really need his support? No. What if Sammy disagrees with the Mayor on a given issue…will he be “allowed” to voice his dissent? Not likely. The other 2 democratically-elected officials (Mr. Mainville and Mr. Robillard) represent the opposition and while they have no direct power to get anything done politically, they do however, have the freedom to speak their minds, raise issues, whistle-blow and truly represent their constituents in Ste-Marie and St-Jacques.

Only time will tell if this new, ridiculous structure will be effective. I hope that this story ends like most elections…anticipate one (disastrous) outcome, only to find the exact opposite has occurred.

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This is it…

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

My fellow Montrealers…this indeed is it.

With Election Day around the corner, only one thing remains to be said…thank you.

Thank you to my family for your understanding, patience and undying support over the past few months; your love and encouragement have been a real inspiration.

Thank you to all my outstanding volunteers! Thank you to everyone who walked with me, talked with me, handed out flyers, made phone calls, gave me advice and spread the word about my campaign…I honestly and sincerely could not have done any of this without you.

Thank you to my constituents. Thanks to everyone who has been so gracious and kind when I knocked on their doors and a special thanks to those dedicated citizens with whom I have had the pleasure of working to bring about a positive change in our neighbourhood. And thanks to all the resident associations, the merchant associations and all the people who simply took the time to call me with their ideas and concerns. It has been a pleasure serving you these past 4 years and I sincerely look forward to working with you for 4 more.

One final time…please remember to vote this Sunday and once again, you vote for each candidate individually, not for a party 

Thank you,

Karim Boulos

Voting information:

Date: Sunday, November 1st, 2009
Time: 10:00am – 8:00pm
Location – to find your voting station using your postal code, please click here
Link to a map of Peter-McGill – click here

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Time to Vote!

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

Well, it’s just about that time…this Sunday October 25th is the advanced poll. To fulfill a promise I made a while back, today’s blog post is a personal and very brief overview of the 3 main municipal political parties’ platforms.

Although I am running as an independent candidate for city councillor in the upcoming election, I am not against anyone; in fact I prefer to consider myself as being well placed to work with everyone. However, I believe that people should take the time to find out about their candidates in order to make an informed choice.

Shameless plug: If you would like to review my priorities for my district, they can be found on my website (to see my priorities click here).

Union Montreal:

This is the incumbent Mayor Tremblay’s party that has been in place for the past 8 years. They have offered a platform based on 4 main objectives: Improving the quality of life, Economic and cultural development, Public transportation, and the environment.

The highlight of the Union Montreal platform is their view on economic development. They are bang-on when they recommend investing in culture and the knowledge economy, enticing foreign (non-local) investors to bring modern businesses, while at the same time promoting Montreal as an artistic and cultural destination. Although I feel that the Quartier des Spectacles could have been planned a little better, it is a bold new artistic center that drives the Montreal artisan steam and attracts a new wave of creative entrepreneurs that will help to define Montreal’s rightful place, not only as the Canadian destination for the arts, but as a city that is revered around the world for its artistic character.

The general idea for Union Montreal seems to be ‘steady as she goes’, a continuation of pragmatic actions that are defined generally by a few million here, a few hundred million there and at the end of the day we’ll have spent our way into becoming a prosperous city.

The problem seems to remain that although they have plenty of steak, they haven’t got the sizzle. It’s true that Montreal requires investments to improve the quality of life, to improve public transportation and environmental issues, but where’s the inspirational factor? Where’s the thing that unites Montrealers and makes us feel optimistic about the future?

Union Montreal should take that economic development spirit and incorporate it into their entire platform. Having a realistic plan is nice, but the Renaissance we need must be built on the dream of what could be done.

Projet Montreal

I have to admit that Projet Montreal did offer an ambitious, 70-page platform dealing with wide ranging issues such as restructuring governance, ethics, municipal services and a heavy emphasis on public transportation and environmental issues.

I think it’s a great idea to aim high and tackle all the issues that weigh down our city. I like their stance on citizen involvement and transparent government, creating urban communities and making Montreal the North American capital of sustainable transportation.

However I feel there are a few problems with their wide-ranging list of promises.

Unlike the overly-pragmatic Union Montreal, Projet Montreal seems to be a little disconnected from most people’s reality. Promises like reintegrating the homeless into society is a wonderful idea, but I suspect that many social workers will tell you that the problem with reintegration is that many homeless people aren’t looking to rejoin society.

And I can’t disagree with the virtuous statement of prohibiting fast-food chains near schools, but just how legal is it to disallow an entrepreneur from making a living. If we can’t get rid of sex outlets and strip joints from plain view, how successful will we be at chasing out those evil fast-food outlets? And what is the definition of fast food? Is pizza considered fast-food? How about submarine sandwiches or hamburgers? What about shawarma or Chinese food that is served faster than you can order it?

My main issue with Projet Montreal is that they seem to want to expand the role and responsibility of municipal government at a time when we don’t seem to provide an adequate level of service nor do we seem to have the financial resources to do much better.

If I had one bit of advice to give Projet Montreal, it would be to focus more on key issues and not attack every wrong they feel needs to be righted. I’m okay with the fact that they like bike paths, public transportation, sustainability and public involvement, but I’d feel better if they had a more focused, prioritized plan. Like I said, it’s good to dream big, but not so much wishful thinking.

Vision Montreal

Vision Montreal has an exhaustive list of general issues they want to tackle. They put a lot of emphasis on “re-starting” Montreal – clearly a jab at the Tremblay administration’s “stalling” of our City.

Many people feel that the City has been steadily declining over the past decade. Whether in terms of global appeal, services to citizens, infrastructure or transportation, we have definitely seen better days. Vision Montreal puts a lot of focus on bringing back ethics and good governance to city hall (hmm), restructuring the role of boroughs (as does Projet Montreal), increasing our appeal on the international stage and their dedication to social development is admirable.

Although I find Vision has a lot of positive ideas in their platform, they seem to skimp on the HOW. Their platform reads like a long-term wish list. They want to accomplish a lot, and in all fairness it would probably take a volume of encyclopaedias to clearly outline all the measures needed to realize their goals, but it would be nice to have a little more concrete information. For example in transportation they want to provide students from the Université de Montreal with cheaper public transportation included in their school fees…ok, there are 3 other major universities and even more technical colleges and schools that would love the same offer; why only them? Or the reserved bus lanes; great idea, but where would you put them and why? In terms of social development they propose tackling the drop-out rate and creating learning regions. Firstly, I don’t know what a learning region is (although it sounds nice) or how it would help improve the quality of education and inspire students to take schooling more seriously.

The Vision Montreal platform is a series of legitimate problems that they claim they can fix. Like all the political parties they focus a lot on the things they feel are important to fix, but don’t take the time to explain why they are important, how and when they will accomplish them, and how much all this will cost Montrealers.

Conclusion

The most interesting thing about the 3 parties is not how different they are, but how similar they are. Throughout this election campaign, they have vilified each other and have told us all that is wrong with the other parties. Interestingly, I think that if they were able to work together, they would make the most formidable team.

If we took Vision Montreal’s social development, cultural diversity, and housing plan along with Projet Montreal’s public transportation, sustainability and civic inclusion plan and add Union Montreal’s detailed investment information and economic development strategy, it would be a powerful cocktail. But as we’ve seen, they would prefer to fight, argue and criticize each other rather than compromise and unite for the common goal they all share…the revitalization of our great metropolis and our undying culture as Montrealers.

I want to improve this city and I look forward to working with all of the councillors who will be elected; I just hope that they look forward to working with each other too.

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This is our home, we live here

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I know I’m a day late, but it’s still worth saying.

We’re past the half-way point in the electoral campaign - only 19 days till the big day! I’ve been keeping quite busy, attending neighborhood meetings and going door-to-door to meet my constituents. My exchanges with the residents of Peter-McGill have been very useful and have allowed me to hear some new ideas for our neighbourhood. I say “our” because it IS ours; I live in my district too.

People often ask me why I do it; why do I seek public office? Aside from the fact that I enjoy the role and duties associated with public service, there is also a selfish reason; I live here. I live here with my wife and my daughter, and I want them to live in a safe and prosperous neighbourhood. I don’t want to have to worry about them when they go to the park; I don’t want to have to be nervous when we walk down the street. We enjoy our urban lifestyle and if I need to be more active in public life to ensure that we continue to enjoy our downtown neighborhood, then that’s what I’m going to do!

Living and working within my district helps me understand the daily challenges we all contend with. I am deeply concerned when residents on Chomedy St. complain that they don’t feel safe walking home, even during the day; not only because I am their Municipal Councillor, but because I am a father, a husband and a neighbor, and because the people I care about also walk down that street.

It also helps to have a vested interest in the area that I represent, in fact, it should be required. The problems in my district don’t disappear when I go home. If I lived in another part of the Borough, or the City for that matter (as is currently permitted), I could easily leave my Peter-McGill issues behind at the end if the day.

Finally, and very simply, I am seeking re-election because I feel that there is still a lot work to be done and I do not want to put the future of my district into the hands of any of my potential replacements.

Simply put, I just don’t trust anyone else to get it done!

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Decisions, decisions…

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

This weekend the Tremblay administration promised $21 M a year over the next four years for park improvement, protection and wireless internet service. I won’t get into how ironic I find it that this promise was also made in 2005, only to be “revised” after the election (actually, funding to parks was cut by $100 M over the past 4 years)……but I digress.

Parks enhance the quality of life in a neighbourhood; people like to have a place to congregate, and the green agora is an ideal place for people to play and mingle. They are among the factors that attract and help retain families in a particular area. If we want to attract people and their families live in one of our Peter-McGill neighbourhoods, then we need to increase the number and quality of our public parks.

Percy-Walters Park is one of the few parks in Peter-McGill. Budget cuts have resulted in little maintenance and even less improvement to this beautiful green space. For years, it had been used, primarily, as an open green space where dog owners brought their four-legged friends to run free and get some exercise.

Two important points to mention at this time:
1- Montreal by-law requires dogs to be on a leash at all times in public places (parks included), unless they are in a designated dog-run.
2- In recent years, and to their credit, many of the dog owners banded together to create an association (Les Amis du Parc Percy-Walters) that would ensure the cleanliness and upkeep of the park.

At the beginning of my first term, I was approached by a number of individuals, living in close proximity to the park, asking for “more access to the park”. They wanted the park divided into “dog-free” and “dog-friendly” zones so as to ensure a quiet area free of dogs running all around.

After some research I discovered that Mr. Percy Walters had donated the land, which was once his estate, to the City of Montreal so that it may be used for “children and their companions”. I also discovered that many people had laid claim to this park in previous years and had asked my political predecessors to resolve the “whose park is this?” issue. Unfortunately, one councillor after another passed this hot potato to his or her successor; I was not about to do the same.

My objective was to find a win-win solution for all who love and frequent the park. I wanted to find a way to ensure everyone had better access to the 70,000 sq. ft. piece of land on Dr. Penfield.

To ensure safety, I wanted an enclosed play area for children that would also include a shaded picnic area for families. I also wanted to convert part of the park into an official dog run, allowing dog owners the opportunity to run their dogs free, all year round.

I was quite confident that my plan for the park would be met with enthusiasm by both groups of users. I was wrong. In fact, at the outset, neither group was particularly thrilled at all with my plan. Dog owners felt that they were losing space that they used to occupy and parents felt that they didn’t have enough space for their children. On some level, both groups were right, but I believed that this resistance was more about adapting to change than about the “me-myself-and-I factor”.

Months of discussion ensued and thanks to the respectful and patient approach of Ville-Marie’s Assistant Director, Michel Pinard, who championed the administrative aspects of this pilot project, new plans for the park began to take shape.

Convinced that we were going in the right direction, I asked for the park to be divided into two sections; the first, a traditional park for children complete with sandbox and a small play structure (dogs would still have access, as long as they were on a leash), and I pushed to change the status of the second part of the park to a legitimate public dog run.

I don’t regret my decision to not pass the buck to my potential successor, I don’t regret giving children and families a new place to congregate and I certainly don’t regret the decision to legitimize dogs running off leash in a large section of the park.

In my next term, I want to finish the work that was started; the park needs a nicer fence, French drains need to be installed to handle the run-off every spring, community message boards need to be installed, garbage cans and benches need to be replaced with newer models, and the list goes on.

Ironically, many people have told me openly that they will not vote for me in the upcoming election simply because of this decision - and that’s ok.

What I have learned is that some people would rather not make a decision so as to avoid ever making a bad decision.

I would rather be criticized for my actions than praised for my inaction.

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Bill 22

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

There has been a lot of talk about some of the provisions contained within the controversial Bill 22. So I thought, before arriving at Election Day, I should clarify exactly what this Bill entails.

Bill 22 is the provincial government’s mechanism for making changes to Montreal’s charter. And one of the provisions included in the Bill that passed on June 22, 2007 is a restructuring to the governance of the Ville-Marie Borough – and in my opinion, a huge step backwards for the democratic process.

The provisions give the Mayor of Montreal new powers, notably, taxation and enforcement. However, the most striking provision is that for the November 1st, 2009 election, the position of Borough Mayor of Ville-Marie will be abolished; whoever is elected Mayor of Montreal will also become the Mayor of Ville-Marie. But if that weren’t enough, the Mayor will also appoint 2 additional Councillors (from other Boroughs) to sit on Ville-Marie Borough Council alongside the 3, democratically elected, City Councillors (representing their respective districts of Ste-Marie, St-Jacques and Peter-McGill).

Now think about this, the citizens of Ville-Marie will no longer have a local Mayor (unlike the other 18 Boroughs) to represent them and address their issues. In addition, the 2 other Councillors, nominated by the Mayor of Montreal to ensure his or her wishes, become untouchable.

For example, let’s say that the Mayor nominates a Councillor from Anjou and another from Mercier to sit in Ville-Marie. What recourse do the citizens of Ville-Marie have, should they disagree with the decisions or judgement of these 2 nominated Councillors?
Answer: they have no recourse - they cannot vote those people out at the next election; they never had a say in electing them in the first place!

We lose our local Mayor and we are imposed representatives who will not spend a second more in Ville-Marie than they have to. Why do the other Boroughs get to keep their local Mayor and we are left with a void in the system? Are we supposed to believe that the Mayor of Montreal (who should be responsible for all 19 Boroughs), is going to meet with every local neighbourhood organizer to hear their complaints and suggestions they way a Borough Mayor does? Will the Mayor of Montreal attend Ville-Marie Borough Council every month in addition to all of his/her other responsibilities? And should they??

I sincerely doubt it.

That is why, now more than ever, it is SO important to make a wise decision as to your local representative. I truly believe that as an Independent, I am in the best position to serve and represent my constituents. I owe nothing to any of the Mayoral candidates, I will have no Party agenda to defend and I will have no Party line to toe!
Remember, in municipal elections you don’t vote for a party, you vote for a person. Each elector in Ville-Marie will be given 2 ballots, one for their choice of Mayor of Montreal, the other for their choice of City Councillor representing their district.

The people of Peter-McGill have the opportunity to elect someone who will be their voice at City Hall and not the voice of a Party selling its partisan message. You have an opportunity to choose a representative that will actually represent you!

Bill 22 link: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/38legislature1/projets-loi/publics/07-a022.pdf

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A day free of cars…

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

Today is car free day in downtown Montreal, this is an annual tradition that started seven years ago, and is sponsored by the AMT (Agence métropolitaine de transport) to promote the use of public transportation from the suburbs.

How can anyone be against such an initiative? I think it’s a great idea that is good for the environment and brings some animation to downtown as we ring in the fall season. However, it makes me wonder if we can’t be doing more…after all, this has been happening for 7 years.

Firstly, I don’t feel that 1 day per year is enough to change peoples’ habits; in fact, it seems like more of an annoyance to most people than anything else. I agree that we need to find ways to reduce traffic in the downtown core, but we need to do it the right way. And as you already know, I like to promote temporary street closures as a way to help merchants and to improve the quality of life in the area (not to mention adding to the feeling of safety and promoting a cleaner environment in the city core). However, coordinating all that is required to pull off a successful event of that nature takes lots of planning and preparation.

Secondly, I am not sure that there can be a real “car free” downtown; deliveries still need to be made, hotels need to receive guests and businesses need to attract clients, in short we need to consider many factors. In addition, we need real transportation alternatives; at this time we are not able to accommodate a true car free area because it would put an impossible strain on our public transportation system. Furthermore, we need parking alternatives; a place for people to drive to and leave their cars before they take the train, metro or bus into the city core. I would suggest parking towers (multi- level parking lots) located at strategic (convenient) locations around the City that would provide easy access to metro stations and bus terminals.

Finally, we need to think about our businesses. It’s nice to have a green and clean downtown, but not at the expense of our local merchants and businesses; the backbone of the downtown core. I would suggest a simple (free) shuttle, an electric (non-polluting) bus that would run between Guy and St-Hubert along Ste-Catherine, and would return along Sherbrooke, stopping every two blocks. This would reduce the congestion and traffic problems downtown, while increasing access to retail outlets and office towers.

Only after we put the various elements of the plan in place (i.e. measures that provide viable alternatives to our current car-dependent society) can we begin to consider a downtown core with fewer cars. Only then can we consider making certain areas of downtown (like Ste-Catherine for example), a car-free zone all year-round. And only when we take the public’s needs into consideration will peoples’ habits begin to change – not just 1 day per year, but every day!

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Green is good for business!

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

Green is good for business

If you’ve been reading my blog then you know that I often promote a sustainable urban structure; and if you’ve been reading the news, watching TV or just breathing, in the past decade, you know that I’m not alone in doing so.

I heard a comment not too long ago that really cracked me up. It went something along the lines of “Karim Boulos is ‘too granola’ and therefore anti-business”. What?!
I guess the fact that I have an MBA and am the Executive Director of External Affairs at the John Molson School of BUSINESS isn’t enough. I guess the fact that I moved to allow terraces to remain open year round to help bars and restaurants isn’t enough. I guess the fact that I have simplified the process for street closures for public events that attract people to the City isn’t enough either…and I could go on.

To anyone who believes that thinking green or ensuring sustainability means being anti business, I say it’s time to wake up and smell the 21st century. The 3 pillars that define sustainability are social justice, respect for the environment AND economic feasibility. Major industries all over the world are realizing that embracing sustainable practices is more than just a new trendy ‘green’ marketing ploy. While there is some opportunistic greenwashing going on, I believe that the leaders of industry have discovered that ‘Green is good for business.’

Still not convinced? Let’s look at this VERY simple illustration.

Let’s say you own a retail clothing store on Ste-Catherine Street, in my district of Peter-McGill. You buy your clothes from a manufacturer or a distributor and sell it to the general public at a price adjusted to cover costs and generate a profit. But let’s say you take on some sustainable initiatives in the way you run your store.

First you switch to compact fluorescent energy saving light bulbs which use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer – lighting is a major factor in retail displays and generally is the most significant factor in energy use – by switching light bulbs you just helped reduce your energy bill by 75% on lighting, and thanks to how much longer they last, you need to buy fewer bulbs, lowering expenses yet again.

Next you reduce the packaging of your products. Packaging has a lot of hidden costs, plastic changes price based on the cost of oil, as does paper, cardboard and Styrofoam, all of which require a lot of energy to produce and transport. You’ve just saved some more money…

Then you eliminate plastic and other single use bags. Even though buying bags in bulk seems inexpensive, the cost rises with the price of oil, not to mention the delivery charges. Plus, offering a low cost reusable shopping bag can be a new revenue source for your business, and if people like your bag, they will carry a branded product of yours with them every time they go shopping. Not sure it can work? Have you been to the SAQ lately?

Next you promote public transportation, or a shuttle along Ste-Catherine that transports people to and from your store. A car can carry 5 people on average, and usually people travel with far fewer passengers. Promote a free public shopping shuttle on Ste-Catherine and that can transport 40-50 people every 5-10 minutes, all of a sudden the lack of parking isn’t such a factor for shoppers any more.

So, those simple adjustments resulted in reduced operating and product costs, allowing you to generate a greater profit. In addition, you promoted a transportation service that attracts more shoppers to the city because you relieved their anxiety about finding or paying for parking. And by implementing these painless measures you’ve made a positive social and environmental contribution to the world, which, in case you haven’t noticed, appeals to a younger and more environmentally-conscious clientele (that will shop in your store!)

For some of us, becoming more ‘green’ may mean changing old habits, but for the younger generations it will just be a way of life. We know that successful business people know how to anticipate the direction their industry is headed in - and are the first to get there.

So for anyone who still doesn’t think that green is good for business, and don’t believe in sustainability…. I hope you’ll reconsider - your clients already have!

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Community Clean-up

Published by Karim | Filed under Uncategorized

There was an article in last weekend’s Gazette about McGill students and community associations working together to clean up their neighbourhood and to improve relations between students and other residents (McGill students get their hands dirty: by Monique Muise).

Students do get a bad rap for being litterers, loiterers and public disturbers, but I think these criticisms are often over-exaggerated. Like every group, there are some bad apples that tend to be the noisiest of them all, but as someone who works at Concordia University, I can tell you that the trouble makers are the minority. Most students are respectful and understanding of their surroundings; they have become more socially and environmentally conscious, and actually go above and beyond to make a positive impact. However, those efforts tend to be drowned out by the aforementioned ‘bad apples’.

I know that in my district there have been numerous incidents where residents, merchants and students have clashed and I have personally seen some of the property damage and filth that residents often complain about. I see this as even greater reason for everyone to open a dialogue and work together.

I love a good old fashioned neighbourhood clean-up - heaven knows, I’ve participated in dozens of them in the last few years! In Peter-McGill, the Eco-Quartier and local associations like Shaughnessy Village, Sustainable Concordia and others, organize a neighbourhood clean-up every year, which I have been proud to support. It is really an inspiring sight to see neighbours working with other volunteers, literally sweeping the streets, it really makes a positive impact on the neighbourhood.

I would love to see students participate (volunteer) in more community initiatives. Not only would it bring students and local area residents closer together, but it would also break-down the ‘us vs them’ barriers that seem to splinter our society. Of course I didn’t even mention the mutually beneficial networks that would also be created. And as for residents and merchants, it would give them a chance to put a human face to the student population that surrounds them.

I look forward to continuing to support and expand neighbourhood clean-up initiatives and commend those already rolling up their sleeves and taking control of their living environment.

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